


Day 29: Caged

by MadhouseVagabond



Series: 30 Day Whump Challenge 2018 [29]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 30 Day Whump Challenge, Angst, Cages, Cap’n Shortbeard, Confinement, Gen, Jeremy and Ryan are too cute, Kidnapping, M/M, Near Death Experience, Pain, Pirate AU, Pirate Violence, Pirates, Ransom, Ryan is bad at flirting, Sea of Thieves, Sea of Thieves AU, Some Fluff, Tears, Two-legs, Whump, battle buddies, caged, jeremwood hinted at, jeremy thinks it’s cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 05:49:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadhouseVagabond/pseuds/MadhouseVagabond
Summary: Two-Legs and Cap’n Shortbeard are kidnapped and held for ransom.





	Day 29: Caged

The night was silent except for the soft sounds of the waves washing against the shore and crashing far out at sea, the Moon shining bright down on the small island, the outpost. The group of pirates moved quickly and as silently as possible, shadows in the night as they hurried forward towards their ship. They shoved the two figures forward, hoods over their heads and their arms bound behind their backs, stumbling forward. The group made it to the ship and hauled the prisoners aboard, their guards holding them securely while their crew mates scrambled to get the ship prepped to set sail. Before too long the ship was pulling away from the outpost and drifting off into the distance, getting as far away as they could. The first mate walked up to his crewmen holding their prisoners who were struggling and smiled, nodding to them. The pirates reached up and ripped the hoods off the figure’s heads, revealing two men. One was tall and had sandy blonde hair and a scruffy face, piercingly blue eyes glaring hard at the first mate. The second was short, had brown eyes and short brown hair, a goatee and beard adorning his face. The two men were gagged with cloths tied around their mouths, cleaved between their lips and teeth.

 

“So, the feared Cap’n Shortbeard and his little pet Two-Legs. Welcome aboard our humble vessel,” he said with a smirk, the tall man growling and lunging forward, held back by the pirate holding him. The first mate chuckled and looked at the shorter man, Shortbeard, and reached over, pulling the gag out of his mouth.

 

“So what be the plan here pal? Ya kidnap us, ransom us to our Crew an go about yar merry way ta live happily ever after?” the pirate captain asked as he glared up at the man who’d abducted him and his mate.

 

“Something like that matey. See, your crew is tha most afeared crew sailing these here waters. They say that ya have vast amounts o gold an treasure stashed away. Well, methinks that if yar crew cares so deeply for you that they’ll find it in They’re hearts ta spare a little gold ta get ya back safely,” the first mate explained with a smile.

 

“What’s ta stop them from boarding ye and killing the lot of ye then rescuing us?” Shortbeard asked.

 

“The fact that I’ll be havin a dagger at ye throat the whole time. An if they don’t cooperate I have two of ye for a reason,” the first mate smiled and looked over at Two-Legs who stared at him for a moment before his eyes widened and he shook his head.

 

“Ye harm one hair on his head an I’ll personally see to it that ye are turned into shark bait!” Shortbeard growled. The first mate chuckled and pulled the gag back up and into the Captain’s mouth, patting his cheek.

 

“Ye be adorable,” he said before turning to his crew mates.

 

“Take these two bilgerats down below an lock them up!” he ordered.

 

Shortbeard and Two-Legs were hauled, struggling and shouting muffled profanities and protests into their gags, down belowdecks and dragged to two strong looking cages, the captain shoved roughly into one and Two-Legs into the other, their bonds severed and their gags removed, and soon the two pirates found themselves alone. The cages were across from each other so they weren’t able to reach the other.

 

“Ryan! Are you okay?” Shortbeard hissed over to Two-Legs.

 

“Aye, a little shaken up but not damaged. How about ye Cap’n?” Ryan “Two-Legs” Haywood asked his beloved captain.

 

“I be fine. I was more worried about ye, they sounded like they hurt ye back when they first snatched us up,” Shortbeard said. Ryan smiled and blushed slightly.

 

“Never a dull moment for us eh Jeremy?” he asked.

 

“Never,” Jeremy “Cap’n Shortbeard” Dooley nodded as he looked around their cages.

 

The Hold was dark except for the one lantern that hung between their cages. The cages themselves not very large, only tall enough for Ryan to barely stand up straight and for the two of them to sit down. Jeremy frowned as he looked down at the locks, not sure he’d be able to pick them.

 

“Methinks this be a right mess we’ve got ourselves into Ryan,” he said.

 

“Well at least we have each other,” Ryan replied before sputtering. “I’d go crazy if I was locked up in here alone.”

 

Jeremy smiled and looked over at his friend. Ryan was a sweetheart but when it came to being subtle that he was flirting, he was a lost soul, completely obvious. This game had been going on between the two ever since Jeremy had drunkenly told Ryan that he had pretty eyes and had kissed him on the cheek. While Ryan may have thought that Jeremy was just spouting nonsense, Jeremy actually did have feelings for the older man. And now here they were, kidnapped and locked up with seemingly no way of escape. After a few minutes a fat pirate waddled into their line of sight carrying two plates and cups. He laid them beside the cages and walked away after glaring at the two prisoners. Ryan edged closer to the bars and peered down at the plate, frowning with disgust. There were a couple pieces of bread that looked very stale, a small fish, and the cup of water.

 

“They could’ve at least given us some meat,” he grumbled as he pulled the food through the bars of his cage, not bothering to take the plate.

 

“At least they be feeding us Ry,” Jeremy pointed out as he reached for his own food.

 

This went on for what felt like days, the two men growing restless in their confined quarters. Jeremy felt bad for Ryan especially, the tall man unable to fully stand or stretch, and barely enough room to pace. Ryan was going slowly insane in his cage. He hated the small space, Jeremy also feeling slightly anxious about how small a space he was in. They were fed the same meal three times a day, always by the same chef. Every once in awhile the first mate or another pirate would come down and torment them, telling them horrible things about what would happen to them should their crew not follow up on the ransom demands, sometimes pulling the men roughly into the bars of the cage by their hair or spitting on the two. Ryan had yelled himself horse several times as pirates had tormented Jeremy, the older man feeling helpless and wanting to protect and defend his captain.

 

Finally, one day the captain of the vessel came down and studied the two men he’d held prisoner for nearly a week now.

 

“Here’s what’s going ta happen boys. Yar crew hasn’t caught up to us yet so I’m afraid that one of ye is going ta have ta become an example,” he said. Both men’s eyes widened and they looked at each other, hearts stopping.

 

The cages were hauled to the upper deck by the crew, Jeremy and Ryan fighting and protesting the whole way, desperate to get free. The captain looked at the two as he stood on the deck, deciding which one would perish. He slowly pointed to Ryan, Jeremy’s heart rising into his throat and tears filling his eyes as he looked towards his friend. Ryan was pale and he looked terrified. His cage was dragged towards the side of the ship, Ryan pressing himself hard against the bars away from the ocean. He looked back and saw Jeremy’s horrified expression and suddenly he didn’t care about anything except Jeremy.

 

“Jeremy!” he called and held a hand out towards Jeremy.

 

“Ryan!” Jeremy screamed and held his arm out of his cage, desperate to reach Ryan. The pirates laughed as the heaved back, about to shove Ryan into the ocean.

 

Jeremy felt the scream rip from his throat as he watched Ryan disappear over the side, a terrified expression on his face the last thing the lad saw. Jeremy fell to his knees and wailed, gripping the bars of his cage as he cried. He’d been helpless, unable to save his friend, the one he care about the most. Ryan’s expression burned into his mind and no matter how tightly he closed his eyes he could still see it. There was a cannon shot and suddenly the deck rocked with an explosion. Jeremy looked up and saw his ship nearly upon them, his crew shouting obscenities towards the terrified pirates. He briefly saw someone that looked like Michael dive overboard and wondered if I’d first mate was crazy enough to board alone. The crew attacked the ship, killing everyone on board without mercy and rushing to their captain.

 

“Cap’n!” Jack screamed and slammed a rock against the lock repeatedly until it broke, Jeremy falling out of the cage and into Jack’s strong arms, the lad weeping as he buried his face against Jack’s chest.

 

“He’s gone Jack! Ryan’s dead and I couldn’t fucking save him! I couldn’t protect him!” Jeremy sobbed. Jack hugged Jeremy tightly to him, feeling his own tears pool in his eyes.

 

“I’m so sorry we didn’t get here in time Cap’n. If we had maybe we could’ve saved him,” he said quietly as the rest of the crew gathered around.

 

“Hey! Assholes! Help me out down here already!”

 

The crew rushed to the side to see Michael treading water. Jeremy and Jack raised an eyebrow but Michael was gesturing wildly for them to dive in, his own head disappearing below the surface. Without hesitating, Jack and Gavin dove overboard and swam after Michael while Geoff led Jermey back to their ship, having moved all the pirate’s food and water supplies and treasure over to their own.

 

“He’s dead Geoff. I’ll never see him again,” Jeremy sniffled as he sat shakily on the stairs leading to the helm.

 

“I’m so sorry Cap’n,” Geoff said and put his arm over Jeremy’s, giving his captain a loving squeeze.

 

“Jeremy! We’ve got him! Help us out!”

 

Jeremy looked up and dashed towards the deck railing, looking down and sobbing when he saw Jack looking up at him, arms wrapped around a limp Ryan. Quickly he and Geoff threw a rope overboard and soon the four crew members were back on board, Ryan lain out on the deck unmoving. Jeremy cried as he looked down at his friend, sure he was dead and hating himself for allowing the older man to die.

 

“Move aside!” Jack ordered and everyone parted ways as the big man crouched over Ryan’s body, the man pumping Ryan’s chest and blowing air into the man’s mouth.

 

“Please don’t be dead Ryan. Please don’t be dead. Come back to me, please Ry, please come back,” Jeremy begged softly as Gavin and Michael hugged him.

 

Finally Jack sat up, Ryan coughing up water and gasping for breath. Jeremy let out a cry and fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around Ryan when the gent had sat up. Ryan cried and hugged Jeremy tightly to him, afraid to let the lad go.

 

“I was sure you were dead. I watched you go over and I...I...” Jeremy sobbed and buried his face against Ryan’s chest.

 

“I thought I was dead too until Michael showed up right before I passed out,” Ryan said softly. Jermey looked up at Michael with tears in his eyes.

 

“Thank you,” he said then looked at the rest of his crew. “Thank you all!”

 

“We weren’t about to let one of our own die, and we sure as fuck weren’t gonna let some cheap ass pirate wannabes ransom our friends,” Michael nodded.

 

The group of pirates all sank down and hugged each other, so glad that they were all safe and sound after such a terrifying experience.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for how late this one is! I got caught up with real life stuff and I’ve been very depressed lately so slightly unmotivated to write but I’m going at it full force! Thank y’all so much for reading this! As always Kudos and Comments mean the world to me!


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